Clothing Manufacturers for Startups

Many startup fashion businesses are looking for a reputable manufacturer for quality goods. If done right in the clothing business journey, it could generate a lucrative profit. But, it might be challenging to find the right clothing manufacturer.

We’ve sourced for countless companies and gained positive feedback from our over 10 years of experience. You’ll get valuable information on various clothing manufacturers for the best choices.

This article will share how to choose the right clothing manufacturers for startups. Let’s get started.

Best 10 China Clothing Manufacturers

1. Shandong Jining Ruyi Woolen Textile co limited

Shandong Jining Ruyi is a Chinese manufacturing company that was founded in 1972. It is based in Jinning, China, with the distribution of Woolen under the brand name Ruyi. 

Main Products: Woolen textile products, Summit series, and the Creative Energy series. 

MOQ: Expectedly low due to their production capacity.

Production Time: Flexible

2. Shenzhen Global Weiye Clothing co. Ltd

Shenzhen Global Weiye is located in Shenzhen.  It provides services ranging from design, dyeing, and printing. It has more than 13,000 workers and is the best clothing wholesaler. Their variety of different product categories has impressed me many times. 

Main Products: Knitted Clothes like T-shirts, polo shirts, sports shirts, and children’s clothing

MOQ: 500 pieces

Production Time: Flexible

3. H&Fourwing

H&Fourwing is a wholesaler, fashion designer, and exporter established in 2014. The professional team has 30 years of experience. They ship to countries like Canada, India, Italy, and others. You can get perfect packages in pattern, house designing, making samples, and shipping from them. 

Main Products: High-end Women's Clothing. 

MOQ: 100 pieces

Production Time: 25 days for sampling

4. Shenzhen Doven Garment Co., Ltd

Shenzhen Doven Garment Co., Ltd was established in 2013. It is a leading apparel manufacturer exporting into Europe, North and South Africa, Australia, and South Asia. I outsourced mostly my international shipments from there. 

Main Products: Main Products: Quality garments like polo shirts, knitwear, and caps. MOQ: 500 pieces  

MOQ: 25days

Production Time: Flexible

Suggested reading: Cap Manufacturers

5. HTX

HTX is a Chinese manufacturing firm founded in 1991. It is located in Bangladesh and China with over 2000 workers and over 30 years of experience.

Main Products: Knitwear, Wool

MOQ: No MOQ

Production Time: Flexible

6. Shandong Demian Incorporated Company

Shandong Demian Incorporated Company was founded in 1997. It deals with spinning, weaving, printing, and clothing with I/E operation. Their annual cotton production is 40,000 tons, 100,000,000 meters of print cloth, 400,000,00 meters of dyeing cloth, and 200,00,000 meters of knitted cloth.

Main Products: Yarns, Threads, Knitted Fabric, Garment

MOQ: 800 meters

Production Time: Flexible

7. D&J Garment co, Ltd

D&J Garments Company was established in 1995 for female fashion. It is located near the Guangzhou wholesale fabric market. It ships to countries in Europe or North Africa. I like that they follow international quality standards from Western markets. It means my customers would get the best quality products. 

Main Products: Tops, Jackets, Dresses, Coats, Jumpsuits

MOQ: 300 pieces

Production Time: 7 days for sampling, 3 weeks for manufacturing

Suggested reading: Best 10 Guangzhou Clothing Wholesale Market

8. Zhongshan ARLISMAN Garments Factory

Zhongshan Arlisman Garments factory was established in 1999 in Shaxi, Zhongshan. It specializes in clothing redesigning and mapping. Arlisman clothing attracts the attention of major clothing brand and ships fast globally. 

Main Products:  Main Products:  Jeans, T-shirts, Knit Sweaters, Polo, Casual Pants

MOQ: 100 pieces

Production Time: 15-45 days

9. Wuxi Kuanyang Textile Technology Co, Ltd

Wuxi Kuanyang Textile Technology Co, Ltd was founded in 1995 and located in Wuxi, Jiangsu. They print various textiles and ship to over 200 countries. 

Main Products: Clothes, shopping bags, makeup bags, etc.

MOQ: Requires an ongoing MOQ

Production Time: 20-30 days for mass production.

10. Hemp Fortex

Hemp Fortex was established in 1999. It focuses on providing a favorable environment and fulfilling all your needs in the fashion industry. You can find items like hemp, wool, organic cotton, etc. They deal with foreign labels like Prana, Kathmandu, and Patagonia.

Main Products: Gloves, Denim, Nylon Fabrics, Custom Fabric

MOQ: 800 pieces per style

Production Time: 13-14 weeks for garments

Best 10 USA Clothing Manufacturers

1. Natural clothing US

Natural Clothing US is a clothing brand that sells organic garments and has been running for more than 15 years now. Clients can provide their creative ideas and order custom clothing. Sharing my own designs and ideas helped in my product customization. My customer also liked that. 

Main Products: Main Products: Men and Women's Clothing 

MOQ: NO MOQ

Production Time: Flexible

2. Organic apparel business enterprise

Organic apparel is one of the top domestic clothing manufacturers in the US. It works with emerging designers, eco-style explorers, and even growing companies. It provides 100% organic clothing.

Main Products: Babies, Kids, Men and Women's Clothing 

MOQ: 10 pieces in keeping with size, style, and coloration

Production Time: Flexible

3. Euphoric colors

This Los Angeles-based apparel manufacturer does work with layout groups to develop custom shirts. Tailors make clothes according to customer wishes. 

Main Products: Main Products: Underwear, Uniforms, Swimwear, Attire, Button-Downs, etc 

MOQ: 300 pieces

Production Time: 60 days for product development

4. Sans USA

Sans USA is one of the most famous USA clothing manufacturers. While an entrepreneur is required to pay a 50% deposit when they decide on paintings with the company. The remaining 50% is paid upon shipping. I immediately liked that feature because both parties were involved in this. It helped us to build trust in each other. 

Main Products: Men’s Outerwear and Women’s Clothing

MOQ: 150-250 pieces

Production Time: 16-18 weeks including production and transport

5. Suuchi

Suuchi is one of the famous custom apparel manufacturers for innovative American fashion brands. It is powered by a software program platform that improves cost-effectiveness and transparency.  It can design, manufacture, and ship clothing to you.

Main Products: Fashion Clothing 

MOQ: A low MOQ of 50pieces

Production Time: Flexible

6. ARGYLE Haus

ARGYLE Haus is one of the domestic clothing manufacturers in California, USA. It provides fashion design, apparel development, and clothing manufacturing services. This custom clothing manufacturer can meet critical deadlines and time-sensitive projects.

Main Products: Activewear, casuals, streetwear, swimwear, outerwear, etc. 

MOQ: 300 pieces depending on the clothing type

Production Time: Flexible

7. TEG

TEG is among the established brands in the USA that manufactures high-quality clothing. It is a 15-year-old company with skilled cut and sews workers. It provides in-house studio-level production and manufacturing facility stage manufacturing.

Main Products: Women's Clothing

MOQ: 50 pieces

Production Time: 4-8 weeks for orders from clothing stores; 1-4weeks for rush turnarounds

8. Stylus apparel

Stylus Apparel has been in the apparel industry since 2003. There is a wide array of clothing available. Apart from cut and sew services, Stylus Apparel provides clients with several services. Their embroidery was impressive for my customers and boosted sales. I also checked their other varieties too. 

Main Products: Display printing, garment embroidery, dye-sublimation printing, and woven label products.

MOQ: 24 pieces/designs, 12 pieces/size

Production Time: 2-6 weeks

9. Royal Apparel

Royal Apparel focuses on manufacturing merchandise that uses sustainable, natural, and recycled fabric. The organization has been working since 1992 and has 25 years of experience. It ships internationally and consequently. Working in their baby garments was a cute experience for me with color exploration. 

Main Products: Custom products for all ages like T-Shirts, Organic Cotton Tees, etc

MOQ: 1200- 1400 units

Production Time: 8-10 weeks

10. Nature USA

Nature USA has more than twenty years of experience. The Southern California-primarily based producer started working back in 1997. It specializes in the production of sustainable clothing. 

Main Products: Sustainable Clothing

MOQ: 4500 pieces/style, 1500 pieces/color

Production Time: 10-14 weeks; 3-4 weeks for unique initiatives

Do You Need a Clothing Manufacturer?

Dealing with a custom clothing manufacturer might be risky, but it can also be quite rewarding.

The advantages: 

• Complete creative control.
• The ability to create a brand image.
• More marketing control.

The disadvantages:

• Must purchase products in bulk, which could eat into your profit margins.
• Increased risk.
• Must make an initial investment.

Suggested reading: Best 10 China Clothing Wholesale Markets

Pros and Cons: Clothing Manufacturer in China

Manufacturing in China is beneficial to your business, but it has drawbacks too. Let’s look at its pros and cons:

China Clothing Manufacturer Pros

• Low costs

Most importantly, manufacturing in China is cheaper. If your products are cheaper, your sales are more likely to increase. The growth of apparel manufacturing in China makes it the best place for apparel manufacturers. Yet, their variety makes it more interesting for me. We explore more designs and fabric qualities.

• Good Services to Small Scale Business

The attention of stateside manufacturers can be elusive for smaller companies or concept products. However, Chinese manufacturers are generally very open to working with them. Any fashion brand’s Chinese clothing manufacturer can offer excellent manufacturing solutions.

• Quality Services

One of the best advantages of manufacturing in China is providing quality services. There is a misconception that Chinese products are cheap and substandard. However, well-known companies like Apple, Beats and Sony produce many products in China.

China Clothing Manufacturer Cons

• Difficulties in Communication

The language of China is difficult to understand, and not everyone can hire a translator for this. It’s also more difficult for you to visit and inspect factories. If you have questions to discuss with Chinese partners, hiring a translator will cost you money.

• Lack of high orders

The lack of high orders is another disadvantage. Chinese workers work for much less or decreased income. At the same time, factories require excessive minimal order. So, finding small-batch production or one-offs in China will be challenging. Most of my clients explore small factories for low minimum quantities. 

• Risk of IP (Intellectual Property)

It is the biggest challenge for many overseas companies in China. Overseas companies often neglect this crucial component in haste to sell their products, suffering the effects later. It is necessary to protect your IP when manufacturing in China.

Pros and Cons: Clothing Manufacturer in the USA

The worth of the global garments is increasing. Clothing manufacturer startup brands in the USA should understand the pros and cons:

Pros

• Cheaper rates and fast shipping

You will get more profit margins if the shipping costs are low. Online orders that You can also complete your customers place quickly. Then, many consumers will give you more and more chances in manufacturing.

• Communication skills

Communication skills are most important when dealing with customers. Starting a fashion business in the USA means that you don’t need to dispute culture and time zone issues. It is easier to communicate as they speak English.

• Scalability chances

When a company scales its products, it prefers an overseas clothing manufacturer from China and India. It is due to their low production costs.

Your company should engage with a quality clothing manufacturer that has worldwide relationships. It helps overcome language boundaries.

• Manufacturing quality

USA market provides high-quality products that are most comfortable. You can take advantage of the best quality products. These products are long-lasting and work well according to our needs.

There are more stringent labor laws, and better working conditions as well domestically.

Cons

• Higher Production Charges

Today, the USA markets are providing expensive products to clients. The goods sourced from the US manufacturers are quality but can be more expensive. 

• Limited Manufacturers

The choice of potential factories is smaller. The United States does not have a range of manufacturers and has a small potential factory range; it is the biggest disadvantage of manufacturing in the USA.

• Small order clothing manufacturers

It is the biggest cons. There are small order clothing manufacturers in the USA and a lack of skills. Thus, the suppliers do not work correctly due to small clothing orders.

Suggested reading: Best Small Manufacturing Companies

How To Start A Clothing Line?

Many E-commerce entrepreneurs are already involved in the clothing business. Still, there is room for online commercial enterprises. Here are six steps to successfully launching your own clothing brand online:

1、Choose a niche and develop a concept

It is the first factor while getting or starting clothing items. By drawing your design thoughts, you can visualize your product. Create a few sketches for different versions of your ability products and get concepts from current designs. 

My first step is to focus on the main design’s thought and then move to other steps. As soon as you have developed a concrete concept, you can now move to the following crucial system.

2、Create A Tech Pack

When you create the tech pack, that’s the essential factor in how you get to manufacture clothing items. It is a design record consisting of sketches and specifications of the proposed apparel product. 

Ensure the products, trims, and components are on the top of the list. Suppliers can investigate these components when they are ready for manufacturing.

3、Get A Cut Sheet

After choosing a niche and creating the tech pack, you need to get a cut sheet. The product improves the system and requires you to decide all the dimensions of your product.

Do not forget your apparel product’s length, width, height, or thickness. Create a suggestion for the measurements of specific sizes so the producing employer will have a clean set of orders to see the files of the products. You do not need a clothing manufacturer to assume measurements and are not capable of listing.

4、Make Samples

To manufacture the clothes product, make the samples because it is a quality step while choosing the niche. When the samples are ready, at this moment, you are in the successful stage, and this is a good sign for the development of products. I test samples on different parameters, including quality tests. It helps me to understand its weaknesses and where I can improve easily. 

5、Make the products

In the fifth stage of manufacturing the garments, you need to make the products. It depends on your pricing; you can get comments and feedback on your products if you choose the best pricing method. That is the best choice for garments and outreach fashions.

6、Quality Control

The last step in the manufacturing of brands is quality control products. When you provide quality products, it is a big chance to help grow your products. You need to pay attention to your clothing items and make sure all things are according to your standards.

How To Find High-Quality Clothing Manufacturers For Startups?

There are many ways to find high-quality clothing manufacturers. Let’s look at some of the best ways to find them:

1. Directories and B2B Marketplace

Without attending the exhibitions of fashion, you can find clothing manufacturing. You can make use of these kinds of Chinese B2B marketplaces.

• Alibaba
• Global Source
• Made in China

The B2B marketplaces are the best way to find high-quality clothing manufacturing for startups in the USA. The best thing about directories is that they have an old and quality list of apparel manufacturers. Directories can provide you with a wealth of clothing manufacturing services. Finding the best B2B marketplace can take time. So I keep investing my same time in product development and other parts. You save tons of time, same as me. 

Suggested reading: Made In China VS Alibaba

Suggested reading: Best 20 Alibaba clothes wholesalers

Suggested reading: How to pay suppliers on Alibaba via Pay Later?

2. Google

There is a lot of information available on Google when finding the best apparel manufacturers for startups. There are some outdated websites, so you must know which ones are the most beneficial. You can also find custom clothing manufacturers for startups on Google.

3. Trade shows and online Database

According to our experience, we highly recommend using online trade shows and databases over Google. It is vital to becoming attractive on these lists because they do not let anyone in. My main goal in those events is to interact with more and more people. It further helps in making business relations. 

4. Incubators and Local Fashion Schools

Incubators and local fashion schools have the best friendship with the clothing manufacturers. They use custom clothing manufacturers daily. Visiting the fashion schools can help you find the top-rated domestic clothing manufacturers in the USA.

5. References

When you struggle to find the best custom clothing manufacturers, you can use your friend or business partner’s references. If your friend has a business relationship with a clothing supplier, you can also utilize their services for your order.

6. Forums

Connecting people with companies or manufacturing is the best way if you create a forum. For example, big companies have a community forum to connect customers with sellers. That is important for your company if you connect with clients.

7. Facebook Groups

Facebook is a great place to find fellow entrepreneurs and communities with similar interests to you. There are many Facebook groups to choose from but look for ones that are specifically for eCommerce entrepreneurs. You will be sure to find questions and answers in them to do with finding reliable clothing.

How To Choose The Right Clothing Manufacturers For Startups?

Finding a quality clothing manufacturer ensures that your quality standards are met. You need to follow the following steps:

1. Introduce yourself or the terminology

You need to introduce yourself and your business in detail and make a good impression. Besides, describe your brand’s good points, the quality factors, and experience. Keep your budget private, and don’t doubt the manufacturer’s integrity. I first go on their website and learn about them and their values. Then drop a message to start a formal business deal. 

2. Understanding the MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity)

MOQ is the minimum order quantity of products a clothing supplier is willing to supply to a customer. The higher the MOQ, the better the service. You may get better product pricing and shorter product delivery time by fulfilling the MOQ(minimum order quantity). 

3. Samples

Providing samples to your manufacturer will help them produce quality products. The company can manufacture clothing following your specifications. Therefore, you should have a diligent clothing sample before starting your own clothing brand. My clients always have their samples as their ideal requirement. 

Most manufacturers will give you product samples, but not for free.

4. Time frames

To find everything according to plan, you need to set a timeframe and put a line for communication with the manufacturer. You need to work with the right manufacturer to meet expectations. You can follow up on your production status from them.

5. Business model

You have to make sure that the manufacturer suits your business model. For instance, you can develop a business model such as fast fashion. Then, find clothing manufacturers that can produce clothing in a short amount of time.

6. Overseas and Domestic

Overseas and domestic shipping is also an important factor in choosing a manufacturer. The overseas clothing manufacturer must be able to ship worldwide to spread your business globally. You can discuss with them the shipping costs and terms.

Plus, shipping costs are usually more expensive in comparison to domestic manufacturers. The quality of domestic manufacturers also tends to be higher. I explore both markets before making any final decision. 

One major downside when working with a domestic manufacturer is that there’s generally a much smaller choice of products when compared to overseas clothing manufacturing.

7. Printing time

Printing time is crucial as you would want the clothing to be produced on time. Contracts can be drawn up in this matter. The manufacturers will uphold the contract for you to receive timely production.

In an ideal world, we always recommend going to visit the clothing suppllier and manufacturer so you can review their clothing manufacturing process. We know this isn’t always possible, but if you can, ask the clothing manufacturer if you can make a visit before you make a significant investment.

This will help you to validate your decision to work with them while building your business relationship—which is essential in a long-term partnership.

Suggested reading: Best 20 USA Sourcing Agents

Suggested reading: Import Tax From China To US

Suggested reading: Baby Clothing Wholesale Distributors

Suggested reading: How to Wholesale T-shirts from China

FAQ About Clothing Manufacturers For Startups

What’s Next?

Keep in mind your attitude before dealing with a company in the fashion market. The wrong attitude may leave a bad impression on the clothing manufacturers. Whether making a blank T-shirt or private label apparel production, you do it with respect. 

If you’re going to pay the extra fees to use domestic clothing manufacturers, it’s a great idea to emphasize the fact that you’re working with local industries in your marketing material. This can really help to strengthen your brand image with buyers who are conscious of the clothing manufacturing process.

You can use a sourcing agent, like Leeline, that gives you the best guideline. We arrange an inspection team that guides you on sourcing. Contact us right now to protect your interests and provide competent results. We take care of YOUR entire supply chain!